A few photos from the party at Shtoff

A few photos from the welcom cocktail at the Belagio

"Free Hands"

"Free hands", part of the competition program, was presented to the audience of «Salute» by the female director Brigitte Sy and her producer. She told the audience about her interesting career (Brigitte has been involved in filmmaking since her childhood, but made her debut in the director's chair recently), about working with actors and the artistic conception of her work. However people asking questions were more interested in the true story on which the film is based on and in lives of the main characters.

The story of "Free Hands" is really interesting. At first it seems that it is "a film about making a film": woman-director Barbara comes to a Parisian prison in order to write a screenplay, based on interviews with prisoners, and then shoots the same prisoners in her film. However, the continuation of the action shows us that the love story in the film is much more important – there is a romance between Barbara and one of the prisoners. From the beginning, you realize that this love is unlikely to end up with something good ...

During the conversation with the director something like first scandal of the festival VOICES was started . Famous Moscow critic Victor Matizen joked bitterly on the film, expressing his dissatisfaction with what he saw in that way. And because most of the Vologodians seemed to like "Free Hands", a tense atmosphere was created in the cinema "Salute". Someone even joked about possibility of a fight. However, Sy tactfully replied that everybody can understand her work in the way he wants.

“What Do I Want More” by Silvio Soldini: Is this love or just an amusement?!

This Spanish melodrama produced a terrific impression upon the audience. A very vivid plot helps the spectators to try to walk in the characters’ shoes and go through all the challenges together with them.

Ann and Dominik have a crush on each other, but, in fact, they know nothing about their relationships – they can’t make sense out of them, they can’t understand what is going on around them. Is this love or just an amusement?!

A lot of people came to watch this film. And everyone was watching it with great interest.

Music and cinema can not be divided

Music and cinema can not be divided. Like the sea and the sun. Like fire and ice. Like earth and sky. This is why every year the program of the VOICES Festival includes not only the works of outstanding film directors, but concerts of outstanding musicians as well. This way a true unity is being born, which is called "high art".

The concert was successfully given in the Kremlin’s square, where plenty of people came to attend it. Some of them even danced and encored the musicians.

In order to heat the audience the local band “HBS” was playing. After some songs Romario came with his helpers. With their funny songs they cheered up the people. Finally, Eugenyi Margulis went to the stage and the visitors have just exploded with happiness.

Oleg Flyangolts. "Indifference" did not leave us indifferent.

On 7^th of June the film "Indifference" as part of the contest was shown directed by Oleg Flyangolts.

   The first thing you see in this film is its the creative history. Started and finished shooting during the years 1989-90s, the film spent 25 years "under the bed." This "exposure" was very recent, and this year the film won the Grand Prix Kinotavr.

    "Indifference" despite its name is quite indifferent to its filling and performance. Embellished by modern features (3D, animation), the tape has not just found a new breath; it joined in a declaration of love to films and the atmosphere of the sixties, eighties and an unrestrained drive with a modern nostalgia of those times. An unpretentious love story of Petit's protagonist (played by the army just returned from Fyodor Bondarchuk), story of the escape and capture of the dog Tuzik, flying machines in the clouds and the dance of bullets, all done with one purpose, namely to perform the anthem of youth. This is a really young movie, despite its advanced age, the movie for the young, for this day forever young, those who danced the twist in Moscow cafes and collected "Muscovites" with engines of "The Cossacks."

Oleg Flyangolts gave a press conference after the presentation of his film.

- How did you come to the idea of creating such a film?
- First, the word "indifference" came to my mind and, as was the custom in those years, it was decided to write a script for that word. All the material was shot over the next two years, but then the film was put "under the bed". And recently, we decided to go back and finish this film. So there were the modern "supplements" like 3D animation and voice actors, but since the film was made without the direct sound, had to tell other people's voices.

- Did  your attitude to the film during this time change?
-In front of me was a difficult task, to get at the time of youth, to feel old enough to make films.

- Should we wait for your next film as long?
- No, there are several options to work with. And we will work with the same people.

- Is there a difference between reaction to the film at Kinotavr and here, at VOICES?
- Yes, even though things are different. At Kinotavr - the film was watched by professionals, and here by ordinary movie fans. And the Grand Prix Kinotavr for me was an unexpected reward.

 

Press conference Brigitte Sy.

Director Brigitte Sy after presenting the competition film "Hands-free", which left the audience with a lot of questions after watching it, gave a press conference to participants of the VOICES Festival in Vologda.

-The story told by you in the movie – is the story personal? Was the movie the means by which you wish to overcome the pain?
- No, it was the task of making a film. In my film there is no therapeutic option.

-The film is set in a prison. How did the idea of making the film in a prison come to you?
- I've been working with inmates for a long time. We set the play, and for one of the rehearsals, I brought a camera. Plays were written for prisoner performances and writers together. And all of this work made me think of making the movie.

- Your character shoots a film, but it’s not clear what kind of movie it is: art, documentary, feature film by the non-professional actors?
- It's hard to answer this question, because the result of her work is not presented in the film. But most likely it would be a documentary.

- What is the fate of your film in France and the world?
- We presented it at the Berlin Film Festival. In France, it was seen by about 20 thousand people.

- The whole your family is working in cinematography: husband, Philippe Garel, is the director, son, Louis Garrel, is an actor. What it's like to live in such cinematic family? And how do they relate to your film?
- All my knowledge of the movie goes through Philip. But I never tried to repeat something that is impossible. But on the other hand, I did not try to get rid of it. And the fact that I always turn to acting environment is very helpful and helped with the film.

“As tame as a bear” by Esben Toft Jacobsen: Magic from Scandinavia

This year the program of the VOICES Festival is designed not only for the adults who know a lot (or are trying to look like they know a lot) about the art of cinema. From now on our youngest spectators will also get a chance to watch films of this level within the program “For grown-ups and children”. The program started with a kind and warm cartoon from cold Scandinavia “As tame as a bear”.

The film tells us about an 11-year-old Jonathan who is going to spend the whole summer at his Grandpa’s. But it turns out that he will be with his younger sister Sophie, which according to Jonathan is not cool at all. That is why Jonathan is trying to do everything possible to get rid of her until the girl is kidnapped by a 1000-year-old bear who has conifers growing right on his back.

At first sight the film might seem to be not a simple one for comprehension: the characters are not sharply divided into “good” and “bad”, rather serious, deep, not ‘childish’ topics are being touched upon. But one shouldn’t- underestimate our younger generation: the laughter of children, their reaction to the film prove that they have enjoyed the cartoon, it seems comprehensive and interesting to them. And the fact that the laughter of children was merging into that of adults automatically puts “As tame as a bear” on the shelve of the home video collection. Meanwhile, the sponsor of the Festival, the company “Kinder” helped “to consolidate” the effect from the film while giving a chocolate to every child upon leaving the cinema hall. What else does one need to be happy?

“The strange case of Anchelica” by 102-year-old Manoel de Oliveira: An incontestable title

Perhaps, you will never get a chance to see a stranger film than this one. It is shot in a classic style, however, it is rather complex to understand. Many spectators are confused about the message of the film made by one of the oldest European directors in the world, a 102-year-old Manoel de Oliveira.

The answer is quite simple though: it is just an unusual love story of the photographer Issak and the soul of a lately departed young beauty Anchelica. The program director of the VOICES Festival Igor Guskov introduced the film for the audience, admitting that it is one of his favorites.

The protagonist is lost in guesses and reflections that are driving him mad. Every night Isaak is having nightmares: the soul of the departed girl, whose picture he has taken at the request of her parents, is coming to visit him. It really looks like the girl is in love and wants to take him with her.

The film is filled with “prolonged shots” that create an effect of light understatement and puzzles the audience all the time. Until the last minutes of the film it is not clear, when the climax is going to take place and how this strange story is going to end. Meanwhile, you still have a chance to bate your curiosity having watched the drama in “Salyut” cinema within the VOICES Festival.

While on a walk in Vologda

That's how Vologodians, while just walikng along the Kremlin Square, can unexpectedly meet gorgeous Claudia Cardinale and Katherina Murino.

The “Unlimited Talent” Prize: And the winner is … Alexander Sokurov!

The first award of the Film Festival VOICES was handed out long before reviewing the results of the competition. This year for the first time an “Unlimited Talent” prize is taking place and it will continue being awarded to the best of the best, who don’t know any limits – neither in talent, nor in professionalism.

Igor Lysenko, director of the Festival, noted that awarding Sokurov with the prize is “an amazing event, not alike any other VOICES’ event, because we are having a guest who is not alike any other guest”.

The prize was awarded by Paolo Taviani, who wished Alexander Sokurov good luck with his new film “Faust”.

Sokurov, who came up on stage, was met with a storm of applause. Having thanked the orchestrators of the Festival, local administration, the director spoke about the film, that he has chosen for such a case on himself – “Russian Ark”: “Since that very moment when cinema was born, directors have been dreaming about managing the time-material of the cinema. How to make a film in one breath? How to award the audience with the opportunity of being free in comprehending, without imposing upon them your point of view using editing, cutting, splice? That’s what I tried to achieve in this film – on 24th of December at 12 o’clock we turned on the camera and a huge film cast (more than 1000 actors) came into motion. In one hour and 28 minutes the camera was turned off. A free cinematographic space was born. It is called “Russian Ark”.

It's not that easy to be a blogger

Despite these creepy rainclouds and the downpour itself, we are still doing our best while searching for the most interesting information for you to always stay updated on the latest news about the VOICES Festival !

Press-conference of Paolo Taviani: “Cinema is teamwork”

After having his master-class, Paolo Taviani gave a press-conference at Vologda Philarmony. The director was answering questions about Italian cinema and artistic vivacity with the use of his peculiar imagery and metaphors. He shared his impressions of Vologda with the audience as well.

- Why after the glory of Italian cinema, with such names as Fellini, Visconti, you seem to be having a kind of a downturn and lack of outstanding figures at the moment?
- Italian cinema is like a big tree, that keeps its roots in Italian culture, grows out. But this tree has not lost its leaves, it is getting new ones. And I think one shouldn't judge the cinema of a country only based on the amount of great directors in it. Please, don’t worry, they will be born for sure! Italian cinema will be reborn.

- Do you have a secret for artistic vivacity?
- I can’t share it with you. Otherwise, it will stop being a secret. The only thing I will tell you is that making films is a necessity for me. The process gives an opportunity to experience new adventures over and over again, meet people, visit places that you could not have visited before. The whole process is an adventure, one needs to live a life of adventures.

- How did you like working with your brother Vittorio? Is working on a film with somebody harder that working on it all by yourself?
- Cinema is teamwork. It’s hard to separate the roles up to the end. This is like when you are drinking cappuccino, you never know where the milk ends and where the coffee starts.

- What do you think of Vologda and the VOICES Festival?
- I have been to Russia many times, but mainly in Moscow and St.Petersburg. The brightest impression is the sound of my footsteps while I was walking upstairs into the house of Tolstoy. But now I am struck by the beauty of your city, I like visiting your monasteries – I start thinking about Tarkovsky.

And it’s vitally important that young European cinema is being shown in such a city, though it’s not that easy. But this only proves the love for art at this place.

Federico Fellini said, the more provincial the film is, the more unique it is.

See you in Vologda!

"Melancholia"

"Melancholia" probably is the most famous film of festival VOICES (of course, except classic films such as "A Sweet Life"). It has already managed to stir interest at the last Cannes festival. Though any work by Lars Von Trier, in principle, should be interesting to all movie-lovers.

Especially knowing that critics called "Melancholia" the most accessible film of the director - the film from which better to become acquainted with Von Trier’s works. There are no horrible bloody scenes (which were in the "Antichrist"), there are no innovations (such as replacement of scenery with painted buildings on walls in "Dogville"), starring real stars and even choosing a theme close to mainsream movies, it’s about the end of the earth . And with all this "Melancholia" is a good example of the creative method used by Lars von Trier and, of course, is a true masterpiece. This is a story about two sisters, enclosed in the same house. The whole film is based on dialogs.

The whole film is an expectation: firstly, of the wedding night, and then of the appearance of the planet Melancholia. And at least in the second case, the expectation is completed as it should be: on the final credits people were sitting as if they were shocked, unable to rise from their chairs. Among other things, "Melancholia" is a beautiful film, and it would be a real shame not to see it.

"Mysteries of Lisbon"

"Mysteries of Lisbon" is in two parts at VOICES as it is exceptionally long: each part takes approximately two hours - so we can say that this is quite a difficult test. However, the film works on the fact that it is not highly intelligent movie. This is a costume production, adventure thriller. Despite the so-called low-genre of the film, in fact, it received the prize for Best Director at the festival in San Sebastian - and the movie was really skillfully directed by Raul Ruiz. It seems that people who came to watch the "Mysteries of Lisbon" were happy with this film, which is not trying to be anything but fun for a few hours.

"Sunflowers" by Vittorio De Sica

The classic Italian film by Vittorio De Sica "Sunflowers" was presented at the Voices Festival as part of the "Russian-Italian bridge" program. It was filmed back in the 1970s, when Russia and Italy often had joint film projects, but even now, it attracts considerable interest among the audience. An example of this is the almost full hall of "Salute" at a single session. Vologodians, many of whom have probably already seen "Sunflowers", came to enjoy the love story unfold between the characters of Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. Quite young actors play real drama, which begins with fun, but ends up being very sad. However, numerous "blunders" (for example, when a character smokes in a subway, and then throws his cigarette on the floor) and the scene in Russia sometimes brought laughter in the hall.

Master-class by Krzysztof Zanussi: “A director can explain the things an official can’t talk about”

Within the program of the VOICES Festival there is a series of master-classes held by the greatest professionals of cinema.

First, Sir Krzysztof spoke about himself, shared funny and curious facts about his life with the audience (on admitting that his last name is by no means Polish, the director told a story of how once he decided to shock his Italian millionaire-relatives.  Having invited them in 1980 to see his movie “Contract” shown at the Festival of Venice, a young director tried to produce an impression, but even the applause that exploded in the cinema hall after the end of the film did not mean much – the uncle, “a manufacturer of the washing machines and refrigerators”, said: “When I enter the factory, everybody is applauding as well.”)

While studying philosophy at university, Krzysztof got into the students’ cinemaclub. Later he became interested in the “Nouvelle vague” movement that set off in France. That’s how the director commented on it: “The way I left the amateur cinema was the exact way I got back into it. But this amateur cinema was different. Absolutely different.”

Zanussi also spoke about the way he likes to shoot his films, about the other things he likes to do, e.g. working in the theater (“In the cinema I am a host while in the theater I am only a guest”), on television, in the museum (“A museum is, first of all, a place where a dramatic action is going on, and I, as a guide, was trying to dramatize this place”), teaching (“The subject that I invented myself, the strategies of life”).

Following the format of a master-class, Zanussi demonstrated 2 extracts of his films. Using these examples he talked specifically about the variety of film endings. The director listened carefully to questions from the audience and answered them with great pleasure. While answering a question about the Polish film “Mother Teresa of Cats” Krzysztof noted that the film has found its audience in Poland, and has become one of the key-events of the cinematic year, especially remarkable was performance of the actors.

The master-class was finished with the words “Cinema is the best method of communicating with people and avoiding loneliness”.

"The Guard" by John Michael McDonagh: not for everyone

The film from the competition program «The Guard» (Russian distributors entitled it "Lie on the floor in Dublin" - a reference to a cult movie of the recent years “Lie on the floor in Bruges") is not for everyone. But it’s not because of its complexity: it’s just because not everybody can endure its black humor, plenty of foul language, and the protagonist himself – a fat disgusting cop, sneaking in the pockets of victims in search of money and drugs. However, the most persistent spectators will really enjoy this comedy thriller made in the style of the best works by Guy Ritchie.

The film tells us of the story of an Irish policeman Jerry Boyle, who has to work with a black FBI agent on the case of drug trafficking. The irony is in the difference between the two team-mates (a prim American and an Irishman, who says that "racism is in his blood"), and in Jerry himself - a fan of alcohol and prostitutes, who turns out to be the only honest policeman in the whole city.

«The Guard»'s director, John Michael McDonagh is the brother of a popular playwright and scriptwriter Martin McDonagh. The movie seems to be trying to prove that secondary characters can also make up a compelling story: the leading role here belongs to Brandon Gleeson – he is the one whom you've probably seen, but hardly remember where. Don Cheadle, with whom the situation is similar, performs with Gleeson in the duet. Despite the fact that the film wasn't translated by the well-known Goblin (stage name for a well known person in Russia), the Russian premiere was held in Vologda.